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DEAD MAN BRAKE
$5.40 – $15.00
South Sydney Herald Critic Catherine Wood described Dead Man Brake as 'a requiem for the living.' She continues,'The events of the Waterfall train disaster, 31 January 2003 are undeniably tragic, but it takes a gifted playwright to transform tragic events into a theatrical tragedy. While drawing honestly and sensitively upon verbatim sources to construct a full picture of the impact of these events upon a community, Dead Man’s Brake is a compelling, uplifting and profoundly poetic reflection upon the nature of human suffering.
Valentine’s remarkable treatment of her subject is ably supported and amplified by composer/sound designer, Daryl Wallis. As the darkened stage comes to life, light picks out the statuesque form of woman who is to preside over the ensuing stage action, moving gracefully between and around the characters as they speak of their turmoil and distress.
Raising her arms in evocation she sings of ‘the treasures of darkness’ and ‘the pleasure of stillness’ presenting to us the age-old mystery, catharsis, whereby the audience watches individual suffering with horror and pity to be eventually uplifted by their recognition, ‘the strange and deep perception’, that in suffering there is ‘insightful gain’.
There follows a stunning simulation, through victims’ terrified recollections and dramatic deployment of sound effects, of the full horror of being a passenger, vulnerable, powerless, in a train travelling in excess of 100 kph as it derails, It was as if ‘the planet slipped off orbit’, and in the 6. 8 seconds it took to happen, snatched the lives of seven, shattered the lives of not only the bereaved but also of the survivors and took its toll upon rescue and trauma management personnel.' Dead Man Brake is their story - written, sung and chronicled with sensitivity and theatrical invention to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the crash.
- verbatim with music
- 90
- 7 total
- 3 female identifying, 4 male identifying
- women
- 18+
- all ages, adult
- Australian Script Centre
- MONOLOGUES
- GALLERY
- LINKS & DOWNLOADS
- PRODUCTION HISTORY
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Don Woodland
Male | Unspecified | over 10 minutes
Starts on page 36
EXTRACT: After Waterfall I got called to the home of one of the victims of the crash. And I can remember walking down the driveway and hearing a woman screaming and there was this bashing noise which was one of the other family members walking down the hallway punching holes in the wall. And that was one of the times I said my little prayer. People ask me if I have a format, and I say no I don’t have a format because every situation is entirely different.
Adult themesNonee
Female | 40s | 5 to 10 minutes
Starts on page 11
EXTRACT: ...so I go back and called up to the guy and said, ‘hey could you call my news room’ and he said, ‘yeah, sure’. And I said give me the phone and so he handed down the phone and said ‘hold it away from you because it’s your body magnetism that stops the signal’.
Adult themesREVIEW: DEAD MAN BRAKE
LYNNE LANCASTER, ARTSHUB, 2 SEPTEMBER 2013
"A wonderfully written though chilling piece of verbatim theatre, Dead Man Brake marks ten years since the appalling Waterfall train crash. Playwright Alana Valentine (Run Rabbit Run, Parramatta Girls) has used the words of survivors and victims’ families, as well as emergency services workers and the inquiry transcript itself, to explore what actually happened and why."
REVIEW: DEAD MAN BRAKE
KIAMA CULTURAL ARTS NETWORK, 1 SEPTEMBER 2013
"It’s heartening to see how this very difficult subject is handled with such care and concern for the survivors and families of this tragic event. My sensitivity, compassion and love of humanity have been heightened."
THEATRE REVIEW: DEAD MAN BRAKE
CATHERINE WOOD, SOUTH SYDNEY HERALD, 4 SEPTEMBER 2013
"The events of the Waterfall train disaster, January 31, 2003, are undeniably tragic, but it takes a gifted playwright to transform tragic events into a theatrical tragedy. While drawing honestly and sensitively upon verbatim sources to construct a full picture of the impact of these events upon a community, Dead Man Brake is a compelling, uplifting and profoundly poetic reflection upon the nature of human suffering."
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